A tall blue faience amulet of the Egyptian God Thoth, depicted in a striding Ibis-headed form.
Thoth was the god of the moon, sacred texts, mathematics, the sciences, magic, messenger and recorder of the deities, master of knowledge, and patron of scribes. His Egyptian name was Djehuty, which means “He who is like the Ibis.” He was depicted as an ibis bird or a baboon.
This amulet was made with Egyptian faience, which is a sintered-quartz ceramic material from Ancient Egypt. The sintering process "covered [the material] with a true vitreous coating" as the quartz underwent vitrification, creating a bright lustre of various colours "usually in a transparent blue or green isotropic glass".
Provenance
Private collection of Dr Bron Lipkin London, acquired from CJ Martin Ltd bef. 1970
Ref: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 89.2.544